A Little Different
by EternalRandomChick
Summary: *SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF HADES!* Leo and Hazel spent longer than they thought getting out of Pasiphae's version of the Labyrinth, and as such, Percy and Annabeth are... a little different when they emerge. Please Review!


**A/N: This is just something I thought of after finishing "House of Hades" and lurking around on FanFiction in anticipation for "Blood of Olympus" (October 7 cannot come fast enough!). I feel like I may have rushed the ending a little bit, please let me know if I did or not. **

* * *

"How long has it been?" Annabeth asked, amazed that she was even able to form a coherent sentence.

Percy couldn't even respond vocally, so he just shook his head to say that he had no idea. As the two demigods held the Doors of Death closed, both of them thought that they had not felt so strained since they had held up the sky when they were fourteen. In fact, they could even now see another gray streak forming in the other's hair. Tartarus had most certainly taken its toll on them, and they wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep away at least the next century, but they knew that they couldn't let their hold on the Doors waver for even a second.

They continued to ride back the mortal world in silence, mostly to conserve their strength, what little remained of it. The silence was only broken, what felt like hours later, when Annabeth shrieked. Percy nearly lost his grip on his side of the Doors in shock, but when his eyes followed Annabeth's, he understood why she had screamed: their arms were beginning to fade away. Sea green eyes met stormy gray, and they both knew that the elevator had finally stopped on the side of the living, but either no one was there to push the button on the opposite side, or the rest of their team had made it, but the monsters were not letting them through. Either way, this was the end; they were about to go back into Hades' realm – permanently.

There was a few more seconds of silence as the two accepted their fate. Percy reached forward and placed his hand against Annabeth's cheek – a gesture that would have been more loving and comforting if his arm wasn't a wavering outline and her head hadn't started to fade. What was left of his face turned up into a watery smile. "See you in Elysium?"

Annabeth gave her own tear-filled smile and clutched the outline of his hand with her own near-nonexistent one. "It's a date."

"I love you, Wise Girl."

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain." In one last burst of emotion, Annabeth leaned forward and captured the ghost of Percy's lips with her own fading ones; their last kiss before they would meet again in Elysium.

That small exchange was all that needed to be said; they were both well aware of how much they loved each other, so they didn't need any elaborate speeches; they didn't have to say anything about how they hoped that the others would defeat Gaea – they_ knew_ that Nico and Jason would lead the rest safely to Athens and defeat the Earth Mother and the rest of the giants. Admittedly, they were surprised that they could be this casual about their immediate death, but being demigods, the two knew that any day could be their last, although they had hoped that, since Tartarus wasn't able to kill them, they might have proven a tad more indestructible.

The next few moments were absolute agony for Percy and Annabeth; watching the other fade away and be absolutely powerless to do anything but watch. However, just before they would have faded away entirely, there was a flash of white light that blinded the two.

When Percy was able to open his eyes again, he saw that he was standing in a white void. Looking down, he was thankful to discover that he was once again a solid form, but he also saw that he was alone. He started calling out for Annabeth, growing more and more frightened every moment when he received no answer.

Finally, he was able to spot another figure approaching him through some sort of mist. But it was not the blonde princess that he was desperately hoping to see. Instead, it was a male figure wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian print shirt and carrying a trident.

"Dad!" Percy sighed in relief, running up and embracing his father. After everything that had happened recently (losing his memories, Alaska, eidolons, the fall, Tartarus), he was so glad to see a true Greek Olympian god, one that wasn't constantly switching between his Greek and Roman personalities, that Percy probably would have hugged Queen Hera if she had been the one to appear to him, even though he probably would have been incinerated for his actions. Fortunately, since he was always in Poseidon's good graces, his father immediately returned the embrace. For the next several seconds, father and son simply held each other, glad to still be able to do so.

"Son," Poseidon finally spoke, pulling back and looking his son in the eyes, "your Roman friends, Leo and Hazel, are outside the doors, but they're trapped battling Pasiphaë in her version of the Labyrinth. By the time they get out it will be too late for you and the daughter of Athena… however, Zeus is willing to once again offer you immortality."

"But what about Annabeth?" Percy asked, feeling his fatal flaw coming into play.

"Zeus has extended the same offer to the girl," the sea god reassured.

Percy thought for a few moments. He was beginning to have a flashback to last summer after the Titan War, when he had first been offered godhood. He had refused the offer then because he hadn't wanted to leave Annabeth. But now that his girlfriend was given the chance to become immortal alongside him…

"I accept Zeus's offer."

Instantly, Percy felt like he had been hit by a lightning bolt (and, knowing his uncle, that wasn't entirely out of the question) and he crumpled, landing hard on his knees. The white void cleared and the two former demigods found themselves back in the elevator, thankfully solid forms once again, and this time, they weren't fading away. They would have embraced each other, but they were now extremely weak as their mortal hearts slowed to allow the ichor to begin running through their bodies; all their remaining strength was used to hold closed the Doors of Death. Their hearts completely stopped just as the Doors were opened from the other side, and they collapsed on the side of the living.

They regained consciousness hours later in the infirmary of the _Argo II._ They could feel the ichor flowing undiluted through their veins, and when they looked at each other, Percy and Annabeth could see the other clad in ancient Greek clothing, but this was only for a moment, as their Tartarus-tattered Camp Half-Blood shirts soon returned, but the vision of the Greek clothing remained, although it merely shimmered underneath the surface. With a single glance, they both agreed that they wouldn't speak of what had happened to them, at least not right away. There would be time later to reveal their new identities as the god of loyalty and goddess of architecture, but for now, there was an earth goddess that they needed to help take down.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please take the time to review as well!**


End file.
